Michael Laitman and His Group "Bnei Baruch"

Abstract

This is an excerpt from a much bigger article devoted to several followers of Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag’s agenda who are trying to disseminate Kabbalistic ideas and practices outside of the borders of Judaism. This very excerpt analyzes teachings of Michael Laitman, a Russian-speaking student of Rabbi Baruch Ashlag, and his movement “Bnei Baruch”,which try to present Kabbalah as science and lead it out of Orthodox Judaism. Author considers Laitman’s methodology, his ideas on correction of the world and salvation from anti-Semitism through Kabbalah studies, his social ideal. In this excerpt one can also find analysis of the social context of the movement, Laitman’s competition with another representative of New Age Kabbalah Shraga Feivel (Philip) Berg, strategies of gaining popularity and complicated relations with Jewish Orthodoxy.